The exciting feel of wind through the hair of a motorcycle rider, yields in autumn to progressive discomfort due to cold wind. This despite an air-cooled engine which provides more than enough heat, if properly channeled. Many solutions to this problem have been attempted. Heat deflectors such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,542, to Schoonover, move the heated engine air to more desired locations. Fairings such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,010,976 to Shields, 4,135,758 to Clements, or 7,404,585 to Bugni, disclose various airshields which block excessive wind chilling the rider.
Any device which minimizes chilling, should be lightweight, removable for time of hot weather, and should allow airflow for cooling the engine, which is typically between the rider's shins.
In front of the rider, a motorcycle has a steerable front wheel with handlebars, and associated components which rotates with the front wheel, such as windshield, fairings, headlight and turn signals, which will henceforth be called steering-column-associated (SCA) components. Other components in front of the rider are fixed to the motorcycle frame rather than connected to the steerable front wheel, such as footrests, gas tanks, and radio speakers, and will be referred to as fixed components. Also, a crash bar is usually near the location of the rider's feet. A crash bar juts out sideways, further than any other component of the lower part of the motorcycle. If a motorcycle tips sideways, the crash bar will hit the pavement first, preventing the rider's leg from being pinned under the motorcycle.
For steering to occur without the various SCA and fixed components hitting each other, some clearance must exist between them. This clearance is usually a gap that allows cold air to chill the rider. Prior-art devices to minimize airflow through this gap, are either very large, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,404,585, or are connected only to SCA components and provide an incomplete seal, as in the remainder of patents listed above. There exists a need for a motorcycle windbreaker which prevents airflow between the SCA and fixed components, without impeding normal steering.